4 Meats

It’s been a while since I’ve attended a cooking class. Back in the days when I was pregnant and my Mum and I didn’t know any better, we had planned to attend some classes while I was on maternity leave.

WELL. The fact that being on maternity was not leave at all (in the “free time to rest and relax” sense of the word) had clearly not quite occurred to us at that point. Me from sheer ignorance and my Mum from the fact that it’s been many years since her last child! So we never managed to make it for a lesson during that time.

To make up for it and as part of my Mum’s birthday present, I signed us up for the 4 Meats class this weekend at Shermay’s. DD kindly offered to look after Noey leaving us with a Saturday afternoon to indulge in some personal time. On the menu for the class was:

• Duck: Roasted duck with a rich syrupy orange & caramel Sauce (Duck a l’orange)
• Beef: Tender beef fillet with aromatic crushed black peppercorn sauce (Steak au Poivre)
• Pork:Lean pork fillets with prunes cooked with bacon and sage (Porc au Prunes)
• Chicken: A chicken casserole which includes robust Burgundy wine with baby onions, bacon, button mushrooms, cognac and fresh herbs (Coq Au Vin)

There was already a lot on the menu, but the class was made even longer by the fact that the instructor demonstrated different versions of the same dish using different qualities of meat — eg. regular “chicken with hormones” v. organic chicken, etc. There was a lot to absorb, but the good thing was that with some of the dishes being repeated several times, as our instructor pointed out, we should have no reason to forget how to put together the dish on our own!

Of the lot, I think I’m most likely to try to Coq au Vin. I’m on the lookout for one-dish meals and this tasted great. Plus I’ll be able to put to good use the many random bottles of red wine I have sitting around the house.

I also only managed to get a shot of the Pork before it was mopped up by the hungry class participants. This was interesting, with the stuffed prunes, though I think it’ll be more of a party dish for me.

The organic meats did taste distinctly better, especially the organic beef. MMMmmm. However, there’s always the question of cost, especially when organic here costs a fair bit more.

In all, it was a nice way to spend my Saturday afternoon, and Mum had fun too. And the great part is that Daddy and noey had a good time together as well.

Now I’m wondering: Should I ask for a casserole dish for my birthday? (when my Mum offered to buy me a bag!!)